Windows Server 2012 and SCVMM 2012 SP1 CTP

by Marin Franković on 13 June, 2012

Since I have received my donated server (thanks Vedran Dakić), I have installed Windows 2012 RC on it and now I will share some info on configuring it with SCVMM 2012 SP1 CTP. Be aware that SCVMM CTP at this moment only supports Windows 2012 as guest OS and all roles of SCVMM CTP must be installed on Windows 2012 servers. I will also be using SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 x64 version which will be locally installed on the server. Of course, Hyper-V 3.0 role is also installed. Be sure to read this document on Microsoft web page.

One curiosity is that I will be using my external 2.0 TB USB disk as iSCSI target for VHDX storage needs. iSCSI target software was generously been provided for free by StarWind software company.

Step one

Install AD Domain Services and configure a new domain if you already do not have one. I will be setting up demo.local domain for testing purposes. Domain and forest level will be set up on Windows 2012 RC. Bare in mind that dcpromo.exe is no longer used for domain services installation (unless you are doing unattended install).

After verifying all the pre requisites, wizard will continue with installation and reboot the server.

Step 2

Install SQL server 2008 R2 SP1 Standard, Enterprise or Datacenter version. You will get an error that this product must be installed with or without help from Microsoft site. Basically, you will need to install .NET Framework 3.5 feature manually before installing SQL. Make sure you are connected to Internet since installation wizard for .NET will download necessary binaries from Microsoft update or else the installation will fail. If you can not connect to the Internet you can specify an alternate source path, and provide the path to the Sources\SxS folder of the Windows Server 2012 RC installation files disc. Be patient, it will take some time.

You will again get this warning. I have ignored it and I selected option “Run the program without getting help.”

After which you will receive nice and large installation and configuration wizard for SQL server. Since I am doing this for a test I will be going straight to installation option. The same warning as above will appear, again I have ignored it and proceeded with installation. After entering license keys and installing support files, proceed with default installation options (all Database services and Management tools).

IMPORTANT NOTE: On the Collation Tab – make sure SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS is selected, as that is the ONLY collation supported.Wait for the installation to complete and then update your SQL server with latest updates and patches.

IMPORTANT NOTE: SCVMM Self Service Portal can not be installed on domain controller.

Complete setup by using default settings (you will need to create domain service account for SCVMM).

Step 4

Install SCVMM agent on Hyper-V host (at this point only Windows Server 2012 hosts are supported).

In the next blog post I will show several SCVMM 2012 SP1 CTP and Hyper-V 3.0 features.

UPDATE: Almost all System Center products are now in SP1 CTP2 status. To install SCVMM 2012 SP CTP2 there is another prerequisite now. You have to install Windows® Assessment and Deployment Kit. You will need to install Deployment Tools and Win PE.